The Ultimate Mission
by Blood-Thirsty-Zero
Summary: Naruto and Sakura are assigned what appears to be a vital mission. However, when things are much too easy, they start putting things together. NaruSaku Fluff n Stuff - Adventure / Romance / Humor
1. Team Gai?

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**~ [Disclaimer!] ~**

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**I really, truly,****DO****NOT****own Naruto! ~ _ ~ Though I**_**do**_**get the feeling you already knew that...**

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**~ [A/N] ~**

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**An ultimate mission for the ultimate couple. NaruSaku 4 life! ***_**whispers***_**Pass it on. ^_~ Enjoy!**

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**The Ultimate Mission – Chapter 1 – Team Gai?**

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Both Naruto and Sakura's minds were racing, trying to think of a way out of their current predicament; they were forcibly held hostage by a single ninja warrior.

Naruto's eyes scanned the window, pondering whether or not he was daring enough to make a break for it... He knew that if he failed it would mean his life.

Sakura had sweat visibly forming on her skin due to her racing heart, her eyes rapidly, yet discreetly, trying to find an exit.

"What's wrong, kids?" The kunoichi holding them hostage chuckled, her large, brown eyes holding some devious intent still unknown to Naruto and Sakura.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, finally having the courage to speak, "Just what exactly do you want from me?"

"What do I want from you?" The kunoichi smiled innocently, her luscious lips curving into a smile before being replaced with a bottle of sake. After chugging a bit of it, she slammed the bottle down, "What, ever, gave you the impression I wanted something from you?"

"Umm..." Sakura spoke up, her voice trembling ever-so-slightly still, due to fear, "You _did_order us to your office..."

"Yeah, and right as I was about to start my promised vacation, too!" Naruto took a step towards the seated Hokage. "Just tell us what it's about already so we can get it over with!"

The curvacious blonde said nothing, but got up from her desk and walked over to the window, gazing out as if detached from the world, perhaps from emotional torment she was unwilling to show. "I have a mission for you two..."

"A mission?" Any fear that was in Sakura instantly vanished and it was replaced with that of determination. "What kind of mission, Lady Tsunade?"

"Why just us?" Naruto huffed, crossing his muscular arms across his broad chest, "I'll bet Kiba and everyone are already out enjoying their vacation..."

"It... It had to be you two. I just, I don't know who else I could trust with such a task... I'm truly sorry about you losing your vacation..." Tsunade's voice shook with incredible sadness, sounding on the verge of tears.

This made what annoyance was in Naruto instantly vanish. He had almost never seen the incredibly strong Tsunade looking like she was about to break; this had to be something _huge_.

"I need you two to deliver a very important letter to someone living on an island Southeast of Haha Island." Tsunade's voice had only slightly recovered its composure as she spoke.

"Haha Island?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that off the Southern coast of Tea Country?"

"A letter! Just how important _is_ this 'letter'?" Naruto huffed, sitting in a chair. "Can't you just send it by messenger hawk?"

" No." Tsunade spoke firmly, making both wonder which question she was answering, "It's _very_important."

Realizing she was responding to his question, Naruto's eyes, went wide at her answer, "_Very_important?"

"Extremely important." Tsunade responded, looking to Naruto with sad eyes.

"Extremely important?" Naruto was leaning in further, on the edge of his seat, excited in the moment. He felt like Tsunade was entrusting him with an extremely large burden.

Tsunade huffed at this, and Sakura was quick to approach the blue-eyed blonde and smack him in the back of the head; the smile she gave the Hokage had never faltered.

Naruto yelped at the unexpected smack and began rubbing his head, looking to Sakura with pouting eyes, his voice matching. "That hurt, you know... Just cause you're absolutely gorgeous, it doesn't give you the right to go around smacking people..."

Sakura closed her eyes while muttering under her breath, "Idiot."

"Enough, you two!" Tsunade interrupted the two bickering ninja, drawing their attention before shifting her eyes to a lonely, sealed letter on her desk. "That's the message that needs delivered; I trust you two will be able to handle it... Oh, when you get to the Island, the letter is to be delivered to Daisuke."

Both nodded their heads, repeating the name 'Daisuke' to themselves silently to remember it. Naruto got up from his chair and cautiously approached the harmless-looking letter on the desk. He reached out with a trembling hand and carefully picked the sealed envelope up between two fingers, careful not to hurt it. The task assigned to him was greater than anything he had ever done before, he was convinced. This was no 'great' mission, it was straight epic.

"We have a lot of ground to cover, Naruto." Sakura let out an accepting sigh, "Just put the thing away and lets get going..."

Naruto nodded and said a quick response, placing the letter in an inside coat pocket as the two headed towards the door.

"There's more, you two," Tsunade stopped them, both looking back to see her at her desk, glaring up at them with one of the most serious expressions they had ever witness. "If you two can return here alive, you'll both be Jounin."

"Me! A Jounin!" Naruto bounced excitedly, smiling his big, toothy smile. Just then, he stopped and was dumb-struck while thinking over what she just said.

"What do you mean, '_If_ we can return alive'?" Sakura was worried over it, so much so that she didn't even bother smacking Naruto for getting so excited. "What kind of danger will we be facing, apart from the regular bandits?"

"That letter will ultimately determine the destiny of the village..." Tsunade closed her eyes in thought, "Its successful delivery could be our very salvation; you see, the village is suffering financially and the person you are delivering that letter to may just be able to help..."

"I see..." Sakura was a little unsure of herself as the overwhelming burden was fully recognized, though she was too strong to ever show her insecurity to the world. "We'll do our best to make sure it gets there safely."

Naruto simply got his determined look on, stiffening his back and standing tall.

Like hell he was going to let anyone take that letter from him; Naruto worked best under pressure.

As the two proceeded to leave her office, Tsunade's large, devious grin reappeared on her face before mumbling to herself, "You two will thank me later..."

...

"What! It's really that far!" Naruto had his hands placed behind his head as the duo continued walking at a steady pace down the dirt road. He then let out a sigh and his voice shifted to something of a whining tone, "Granny Tsunade couldn't have made it further if she wanted to."

The air smelled somewhat like dirt, which both blamed on the occasionally passing trading caravan, the wagons and accompanying persons stirring up the dirt. It was around 3 p.m. and the sun was still rather high in the sky, its rays incredibly bright and intense, warming the travelers effectively... Perhaps too effectively... Wind was nonexistent apart from the unpredictable breeze that lightly kissed their skin, carrying with it a surprisingly fresh scent compared to that of dirt.

"Naruto, have some respect!" Sakura growled at him, raising a fist which made him cower in fear. Just then, Sakura dropped her fist without even hitting him, her voice came out quiet and somewhat shaky. "It'll take a while, that's for sure... it isn't the journey I'm worried about, though..."

The kunoichi then began walking again, leaving a stunned Naruto watching her retreating figure... Was that really Sakura? After a moment, the number one, knuckle-headed blonde decided to jog and catch up.

"Oh?" Naruto slowed to a nice walking pace next to her, looking ahead and squinting slightly while shifting his off eyes to the side to catch sight of his traveling companion. "Then what _are_ you afraid of?"

She laughed for a moment before smiling an entirely fake smile at him, "Nothing at all," Sakura put on a painfully obvious, worry-free facade, her voice dripping of sarcasm and a very small amount of panic. "I'm definitely _not_worried about the massive number of ninja, who have ever been an enemy of the Leaf, and would see this as a goldenopportunity to kill off the entire village at once! That doesn't worry me at all!" She waved her arms around a little for effect before returning them to her sides, keeping her pace.

"Okay..." Naruto lowered his eyes to his feet while walking, earning an annoyed huff from the pinkette.

He wasn't sure what he should say or do in this situation... Could saying anything even help her relax a little? If he told her what he immediately though: that she shouldn't worry, that he'd protect her with his life, would it come off as stupid and make her dislike him _more_? If he decided to tease her and lighten the mood with a 'Yougot nothing to worry about, nobody would ever want _you_', would she actually take it personally and be hurt?

He somehow found he's always like this around her. So speechless, never having anything smart or witty come to mind... Therefor, he simply continued to watch his feet as they walked in silence.

…

The two ninja had started their trek in the afternoon, and now, a few hours later, it was rather dark. The sun had just vanished below the horizon, leaving a small part of the sky still glowing orange and pink, the rest rather dark.

Sakura had been mentally cursing herself over the past few hours over being so hard on Naruto... Maybe he takes the things she says and does personally... Sure, she had never really _loved_him or anything, but she does enjoy his company. Besides, he's been the best teammate she could've asked for; they're practically family! She would never dream of doing something that_actually_hurt him... She had been trying to come up with a way to apologize without coming off as too pitiful... The words have yet to come.

Naruto's eyes finally left his feet and glanced to the sky, having given up on trying to think of a cool way of saying 'I'm sorry I'm such an incompetent loser and never seem to know the right words to say around you.' …A fruitless campaign, to say the least.

Naruto got lost in the sky. To the horizon, a brilliant orange glow appeared at the top of the distant mountain range, the orange glow dispersing to a portion of the sky, turning into a soft, transparent pink. It reminded him of Sakura's hair and he had to let a small smile show on his lips at that.

Meanwhile, Sakura was taking in the same sight. The sight of the brilliant orange glow creeping over the mountains made her mentally giggle, physically letting a smile cross her lips. It had always been Naruto's favorite color, and she felt she would forever be reminded of him at the sight of it.

Both of their minds trailed off to the realization that it would soon be pitch black and they needed to stop soon to set up their tent and start a fire to keep the animals away through the night. They were both also feeling quite hungry at this point; not to mention the endless thirst that the relentless sun had been instilling in them throughout the day.

"We should probably st-" Both stopped mid-sentence, noticing the other was saying the exact same thing. After a second of silence, they both began again, "We need to stop soon and set up camp."

Having gotten it out, the duo stopped walking and faced each other, both looking somewhat confused as to why they kept saying the same things.

Almost afraid to even try and speak again, Sakura broke the silence, "Okay, that was weird..." She giggled a bit, somewhat happy he didn't say it, too.

Naruto let out a large sigh of relief before giving her his trademark, toothy smile. "You're telling me; I thought I walked into a Genjutsu or something!" He chuckled in relief, "Since when have we thought alike?"

"I guess since now," Sakura returned his smile, happy that she didn't feel pressured into apologizing anymore. At least he didn't hate her enough that they couldn't still laugh together like this. "Kind of scary, huh?"

"Way scary!" Naruto continued laughing. He felt a bit better about himself now and somehow thought getting closer to Sakura wasn't such an impossible task, after all.

…

Naruto and Sakura were both laying inside their tent with the small fire they had previously been sitting by, just outside. Despite the incredibly hot sun during the day, it became quickly apparent that Summer wasn't quite there, for the nights were still rather cold. Both ninja were kind of chilly in the tent, having grown used to the warm aura around the fire; however, due to insects launching a full-scale attack, they could no longer enjoy its heat.

Neither said a thing, just lay side-by-side, looking up at the thin material which made the tent's ceiling. Their eyes were open, both in deep thought.

Naruto was busy thinking about the possibilities of what could happen with them being so close and alone.

Sakura, on the other hand, was thinking of something else entirely... She was still trying to figure out how to apologize to Naruto in a way that would be sincere, but not too corny...

Reaching her wit's end, she gave up and struggled to get the simplest words out, "I... I'm sorry, Naruto." She instantly regretted having said it; what would he think? She closed her eyes tightly as if it would hide her from a question she knew was coming.

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts at his teammate's voice and looked over to see her eyes closed tightly, her arms over her face as if trying to shield herself from his wrath. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't help but chuckle at her childishness, "Sorry' for what?" Naruto got out before returning to laughing at her.

He was laughing? Why the hell was he laughing? Apart from that, he asked the very same question she knew he would... Sakura knew she shouldn't have said that; now she _has_ to finish what she started... "I-I..." Sakura trailed off for a moment as she lowered her arms and opened her eyes, looking over to the blue-eyed Genin beside her, the most dazzling smile on his face she had ever seen as he continued to laugh.

The words left her; why did she suddenly get the urge to say 'I love you' instead? Having gotten lost with what she was going to say, her mind rushed, trying to remember what she had to tell him. Surely she likes him as a teammate, and even as a friend... But _love_him? No way.

She gazed into his sapphire eyes deeply when it hit her. "I'm sorry... for treating you the way I always had, Naruto... You deserve better, really. I mean, you've always been a great teammate, and an even better friend... Whenever I need you, on or off the battlefield, you always seem to come running."

Naruto was struck dumb with her words, looking deeply into her bright emerald gems. He was sure he heard Sakura apologizing to him, but he couldn't seem to accept it. Did he even deserve it? What's more, why was his _Sakura_ apologizing to begin with? The Sakura he knew would never have doubts about her behavior or anything else she deemed to be absolute. So, why was she questioning the treatment she gave him? It's true she sometimes got a little violent, but it was always in a playful manner, and he knew she would never seriously hurt him... Was it her words that she's apologizing for? Her words hadn't hurt him, either; not _really_. Well, that's what he told himself anyhow. In truth, he knew he was cut inside every time she rejected him or drooled over Sasuke. He just kept telling himself she'd grow into the idea and let Sasuke go. That's it, she must be apologizing for the emotional torment she caused him... But, why? Was she so worried about the mission it caused her to doubt herself?

Sakura watched as Naruto removed his coat and lay the blanket of warmth over her. She was looking into his face all-the-while, expecting some sort of 'I can't forgive you that easily' speech... But, she got nothing.

Naruto lay back down after putting his coat on a confused pinkette; he rolled over to face the other way and closed his eyes in preparation to sleep. A smile appeared on his sleepy lips, his voice happy and delightful, "Don't say such strange things, Sakura... Goodnight."

What just happened? She wasn't sure. Was this his way of forgiving her, or rejecting her apology? It sounded like he was happy... She suddenly came to the realization that maybe she had never hurt him to begin with and was just over thinking things. She let out a sincere smile, feeling much better as she lay down and closed her eyes, pulling Naruto's jacket up tightly by her chin. "Goodnight, Naruto..."

Though never moving, or even opening his eyes, Naruto heard the happiness in Sakura's voice. Knowing Sakura was at ease instantly brightened his smile and lifted his soul as he peacefully drifted to sleep.

…

The next morning, Naruto had woken up at the first hint of the sun and glanced over to see Sakura sleeping like a baby... She must have had a rough day at the hospital before being sent on this mission... Naruto smiled and, as gently as he could, picked her up bridal style, his coat still laying over her sleeping form. He somehow managed to get outside of the short tent through a combination of crouching and walking on his knees; once outside, he was able to stretch his legs and found a nice, flat spot to lay her.

Naruto proceeded to quickly pack up the tent before sealing it in a scroll and placing it in his pants pocket. Looking over to Sakura, he noticed her still snoozing away; he laughed silently to himself at that. Was she ever going to wake up? She looked so cute laying there asleep; he didn't want to move her again and risk waking her, but alas, they had to continue their mission. Therefore, he picked her up just as gently as the first time, causing her to stir a bit in his arms, snuggling her face against his bicep for heat in her sleep. Naruto couldn't help but blush at the contact and could feel his face burning up.

Sakura's consciousness slowly drifted from her sleeping state to reality, yet she felt so comfortable that she told herself she'd just rest her eyes a little longer, and before she knew it, she was back in a deep sleep...

…

Upon waking up, Sakura moved around in Naruto's arms before gazing up at his slender face, which soon turned to her and smiled.

"Looks like the sun finally decided to wake up and brighten my day." Naruto chuckled a bit while walking, partially due to how corny what he said was, but mostly due to Sakura's confused face and messy hair. "You want down?"

Sakura was trying to precess all that was going on around her... She was in Naruto's arms and the sun seemed rather high in the sky; she would've guessed it was around noon. Where was he carrying her? How long had he been carrying her? Wait, he asked if she wanted down, she should probably answer in case he's tired from carrying her.

"Yeah, standing on my own two legs for once sounds nice." She giggled, biting her lip nervously as he gently lowered her legs to the ground and made sure she was steady before releasing her. "Umm, Naruto... How long have you been carrying me?"

"I guess since sunrise." He chuckled, scratching his head nervously, "I'm surprised you didn't wake up, really..."

"Since sunrise!" Sakura gaped, wide-eyed, "I'm so sorry... I guess I've been overdoing it too much lately or someth-"

"Hey, hey." Naruto cut her off, smiling sweetly at her while lightly placing his hands on her shoulders, "Don't apologize; I had already assumed you had been overworking yourself... You really need to stop that, you know. It's not good for you..." Naruto laughed, dropping his hands from her shoulders and walking off down the dirt road, calling back over his shoulder. "Besides, you never even got heavy; you must weigh like a feather or something."

Sakura huffed while running to catch up to him, "Next time wake me up... I don't want to be a burden."

"I already said you weren't..." Naruto sighed.

It was around this time she noticed she was still holding Naruto's jacket from the previous night, which caused her to look at Naruto in his skin-tight black t-shirt. He had been carrying her like that! She could feel a blush form on her face and her feet stopped moving.

"Sakura?" Naruto began to turn around to look back and see if she was alright when he noticed his own coat soaring through the air and landing over his head. He didn't even bother moving it, "You okay?"

"Fine." Sakura responded, rushing to get a bit ahead of him, that way if he took if off he still wouldn't see her blushing. "Next time wake me up!"

"Okay, I guess I could..." Naruto sighed, taking his coat off his head, "By the way, you shouldn't throw this. The important letter is in here!" Naruto rushed to try and catch the running Sakura.

"Don't announce it to the world, idiot!" Sakura continued trying to keep her lead so he wouldn't see her face, not sure if the redness in her cheeks had subsided yet or not.

…

"Eh?" Naruto was staring down at a middle-aged man sitting on the road, "You sprained your ankle walking on the _road_!"

"Yes!" The brown-haired man with matching brown eyes replied with enthusiasm Naruto had seen in very few people... In fact, even fewer would be so enthusiastic over getting hurt. The man then shed some tears, his large smile big enough to be compared to Naruto's, "You'll help me get to Haha Island, right!"

Naruto glanced over to a serious Sakura, looking for an answer.

The pink-haired kunoichi saw this and let out a sigh, looking to the man on the ground, "I guess we could help you until your ankle is good enough to walk on, or you find some friends to help you."

The man threw his fists in the air, "My heroes! I'm Roc-" The man took a moment to think to himself, "I'm Rochelle, nice to meet you!"

The two ninja exchanged a strange glance before looking back to the man, and raising an eyebrow.

"Mmm..." Naruto thought it over, "Isn't Rochelle a girl's name?"

"Naruto!" Sakura glared over at her teammate, "Be more polite! He didn't have a say in what his parents named him!"

"Yes, exactly!" Rochelle dramatically placed one hand on his chest, the other hand out to the side, his voice not even changing from its loud, uplifting tone. "I was shunned as a child due to it. People thought I was gay and picked on me; my parents were so cruel..." He proceeded to drop his head with a dramatic shudder in his neck, only for a moment though, soon to shoot his head right back up with his large, dazzling smile on his face, "But, one day, I found friends who loved and respected me. I came to an understanding that only true geniuses could know how to see the absolute beauty of the name Rochelle!"

Both were stunned beyond words... The guy practically just told them his childhood story. A rather... _sad_ childhood story, at that...

"Ah, I see you two are among the group of geniuses who can see my beauty! You must be stunned by it right now!" The man laughed.

"Umm... I'm Naruto Uzumaki..." Naruto continued gaping at him.

"Sakura Hurano," Sakura was doing something of the same thing.

…

A few minutes later, the trio was on their way down the path once more. Sakura was walking with the man, her arm around his lower back to support him, and his arm around her neck. Naruto was casually walking next to them, thinking up ways to sprain _his_ ankle once they get rid of this guy.

"Umm... Rochelle... What exactly are you going to Haha Island for?" Sakura had something of a suspicious tone in her voice.

"It's nice to know you care!" Rochelle tightened his arm around her for a second, giving her a quick squeeze. "I'm a traveling merchant, you see! Perhaps you would like to buy something?"

"Umm... I'm good..." Naruto spoke up, feeling a bit left out of the loop.

"No thanks, we've actually kind of over prepared for the trip." She chuckled, remembering how she yelled at Naruto upon seeing the mounds of dried ninja food he stored away in scrolls.

"I insist, though, I really do!" The man reached back with his free hand and pulled an object from his backpack.

"Buy this!" He stated plainly with his loud, cocky voice. "I guarantee you will need it on your travels!"

Sakura looked at the object before gaping, "Why would we need a-" She was cut off.

"What, really!" Naruto bounced in excitement at the sight of it, "How much!"

"I'll sell it to you real cheap!" Rochelle looked over and gave Naruto a matching large grin.

"Awesome!" Naruto whipped out his bulging foggy coin purse and paid up, snatching the small object from the man's hand. "Thanks, Rochelle!"

"No problem at all." He winked with his dazzling smile on, giving a thumbs up with his free hand. "I always say that if there's a day I can't sell something to someone, then the next day I'll sell five-hundred more! And if I can't sell five-hundred more the next day, I'll sell a thousand more the following! And if I can't sell a thousand more-" The man finally stopped his ramblings when Sakura spoke up.

"Umm... Naruto..." Sakura was glaring at Naruto with a serious expression, her eyebrow twitching as she watched him hugging the small, yellow object. "What the hell are you going to do with a rubber ducky!"

"He's going to be my bath buddy," Naruto grinned largely, still hugging his little ducky, "Aren't you, Ducky?"

Just then, the middle-aged merchant began running his fingers down Sakura's sides, fluttering them lightly against her form and sending shivers through her body.

She instantly threw his arm off and jump away, pointing an accusing finger at the standing merchant, a vein bulging from her forehead, "What the hell are you doing!"

"Eh?" Naruto was pulled from his ducky universe to look at the two, completely unaware of what was going on. Suddenly, something hit him and he instantly mimicked Sakura, the bulging vein replaced by an epic smile, "You're standing, Rochelle!"

The merchant looked around with a bit of confusion before his eyes widened with realization. He instantly fell to the ground, crying out in pain while holding his ankle.

"That's the opposite ankle from what you were holding before..." Sakura hissed in a rather quiet, yet creepy voice. She tugged her glove tighter and started towards him with a fist poised to strike, feeling rather violated.

Sakura was going to kill the man they tasked themselves with escorting. What's going on here!

Naruto jumped in between the two, facing Sakura, ducky still in hand. "Sakura, you can't! He's in pain and can't even run away!"

"Don't tell me you fell for that poor acting! Besides, he deserves it after doing... _that_ to me!" Sakura shuddered at her words, still feeling where his creepy fingers touched.

"'_That_'?" Naruto raised a confused eyebrow.

…

A few minutes later(It took the dimwit a while to fully grasp what his pink-haired teammate was explaining to him.), Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he turned to the guy sitting on the ground, who was smiling happily now. Naruto returned to pointing his accusing finger at him, a strong glare on his features. "Hey guy, be more gay!"

Rochelle began dramatically crying, tears sprouting like fountains from his eyes, "I told you people _thought_ I was gay, not that I was!"

Sakura huffed, "Lets just leave him." She began away.

"B-But..." The man pouted up at our favorite blonde ninja, his eyes sparkling in the most adorable way he could manage, "My ankle still hurts."

…

The man had re-convinced them of his injury and they were back to traveling now. However, the merchant was now being supported by Naruto, the pinkette claiming to not want anything to do with that 'perverted old man'. Well, when I say he re-convinced 'them', I mean he re-convinced Naruto... The idiotically righteous Genin would never abandon somebody that was injured... Never. Even if that 'somebody' happened to be a perverted, old merchant who was faking an injury...

Naruto huffed, muttering angrily under his breath about having to have met such a perverted old merchant.

Sakura glared back at the two behind her before turning eyes front and continuing to lead.

"You know..." Rochelle adverted his eyes apologetically towards the ground, "All I was looking for was a tissue to blow my nose..."

"What!" Sakura spun around, "Haven't you ever heard of asking!"

The man thought for a second, smiling back to her, "You seriously think a merchant as legendary as I, could go around 'asking' for things he needed? It's unheard of!"

"_Legendary_!" Sakura let out a short-lived burst of mock laughter while turning back around. "The only thing '_unheard of'_ here, is _you_!"

"Sakura's body has been violated..." Naruto cried quietly to himself, "and it wasn't by me..."

Sakura had been leading the gang down the road when she heard a loud shriek from her blonde teammate. "Naruto!" The pink-haired kunoichi quickly spun around while slipping a hand into her weapons pouch, gripping a kunai.

Behind her, she relaxed, seeing only the blonde idiot and the strange merchant.

Naruto was a few steps away from Rochelle, who happened to be standing up by himself again. The blonde was currently shaking in horror while rubbing his hands all over his torso, "M-Make the creepy feeling go away, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted, feeling just as violated as Sakura.

She already had a good idea of what happened, but decided it best to confirm. "What happened?" She glared at the merchant, "Needed another _tissue_?"

"I feel so violated!" Naruto cried out, still running his hands over various parts of his body, trying to make the creepy feeling go away, "Sakura-chan, he just felt me up; there's something strange about this guy!" Naruto then shot a glare at the innocent-looking merchant, pointing his accusing finger at him once more, "Hey, guy, be less gay!"

The merchant chuckled, "Sorry, I was just wanting a blank scroll so I could write down an idea I got, honest!"

…

It took a while to start up again, but the trio was back in motion with Naruto and Sakura at point and Rochelle, accompanied by a Naruto clone, taking up the rear. Every so often one of them would glance over their shoulder to make sure the creepy merchant wasn't making any more advances. Both still had the lingering feeling of where his masculine fingers softly fluttered over their skin.

It went on like this for quite a few hours with relatively little action. Just a few fights between Sakura and Naruto about leaving the 'old pervert' behind.

…

Come nightfall, they had decided it was time to rest and found a nice spot off in the woods to set up.

"Still a ways 'til we reach Haha Island, huh?" Naruto used a stick to poke at the raging fire, the old merchant messing with things in his backpack directly across from him.

"Yeah," Sakura spoke from within the tent, the thin material that made the entrance completely zipped up. "Probably take us at least a few more weeks at this pace."

Naruto just silently nodded and continued to poke at the base of the flame.

"Sorry I'm such a burden." Rochelle spoke up, sounding almost sad. However, he sported an entirely too large grin on his face that told otherwise.

"Nah, you're no burden." Naruto giggled, the orange glow lighting up his dazzling white smile.

"Really!" Rochelle was overcome with excitement, his eyes lighting up.

Sakura's groan could be heard from inside the tent, "Just creepy."

Rochelle's smile instantly fell at that, causing Naruto to laugh more.

Soon, Naruto decided it time to turn in and started for the tent... only to look over and see Rochelle heading towards it, too.

"Dude, no way!" Naruto paused in his tracks, back to pointing his accusing finger at him, "I don't want to be raped in my sleep!"

A look of false hurt overcame the middle-aged man, "What? I'm hurt; I would never!"

"'Never' my ass!" Naruto continued, "Next thing I know I'll wake up to you hovering over me doing god knows what! No, man! Hell no!"

"How about I promise to leave _you_alone?" The man grinned.

The pinkette took that as her cue to speak up from inside the tent, "If you're sleeping in here, I'm going out there."

"Fine, fine..." The merchant let out a sigh, finding a nice place to lay down, "Just don't make so much racket together that you keep me up all night. I need my sleep if my ankle's going to heal."

"'don't make too much racket'?" Sakura repeated to herself while laying down, gazing up at the thin, see-through material that was the ceiling of their tent. She soon felt her face burning up at the realization of what he meant.

Naruto soon unzipped the door and crawled in through the small opening; she caught full sight of his bright red blush, making it painfully obvious that he had caught on as well.

Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around herself, not sure if she would even be able to sleep in such conditions. She had a hott blonde next to her and funny thoughts running through her head, sparked by the creepy merchant currently snoring away just outside their tent.

Naruto's end wasn't much better. He lay there with wide eyes, looking to the ceiling as he entertained appealing ideas about Sakura, and sadly, unappealing ideas of a certain old, perverted merchant.

Needless to say, it took a while for sleep to overtake them, even in their exhausted states. However, with time, both ended up fast asleep.

Naruto was snoring loudly on his back, Sakura sleeping silently on her side with a small amount of drool leaking from her mouth to her arm.

Just then, the tent door slowly unzipped and in came a shadowy figure. The shadowy figure crawled over to the sleeping Naruto and slowly unzipped his coat, his hand then slipping in, finding the letter in the inside pocket, removing it with utmost care.

However, it wasn't careful enough; Naruto's eyes slowly cracked open to see the figure on all fours above him, one hand placed gently on his chest, easily felt through the thin material of his shirt.

…Their eyes met, both having a look of shock in them...

"Oh my god! What the hell are you doing to me, you perverted old guy!" Naruto exploded like a bomb going off, causing Sakura a startle and ultimately jolting her awake.

"Oh, shit..." The merchant mumbled to himself before turning and taking off out of the tent, letter in hand.

Catching a glimpse of something in the pervert's hand, Naruto quickly felt his coat pocket and discovered the absence of the letter, "He stole the letter!"

"Dammit." Sakura groaned, both jumping up and crawling out of the tent in pursuit of the happy, energetic, old guy.

They caught sight of him back out on the road, sprinting away in a strange manner with a large grin on his face. His movements were fast... too fast... They had seen few _ninja_ move like that, never a _civilian_. However, luckily for them, this guy was making zigzags down the road, never running in a straight path for too long.

"Witness the power of the merchant!" The merchant leapt into the air and did a few twists before continuing his facade.

…

Seconds later, the merchant lay lifeless on the ground, apart from the occasional twitch. A very pissed-off looking Sakura stood above him with clenched fists.

Naruto easily snuck up and removed the all-important letter from the merchant's hand, sliding it back into his coat pocket.

"What do we do about the perverted thief?" Naruto's voice was uncharacteristically serious as he gazed down at him.

"Just leave him..." Sakura turned away, "You should of listened to me the last hundred times I told you to do so."

"Fine, fine..." Naruto groaned unwillingly before catching up with his hot-headed teammate. Just then, he took notice to the feeling of when the merchant had his hand pressed up against his chest while stealing the letter; the creepy feeling of being violated instantly returned and he began running his hands over his muscular chest, "Sakura-chan, make the creepy feeling go away!"

…

That night, the duo came to the conclusion that it was just a random thief, the fact that he patted both of them down, in search of things to steal, was proof. Perhaps, by some miracle, the information hadn't been leaked... That's what they told themselves, anyways.

...

Elsewhere, the creepy merchant stood in the middle of a complex diagram on the ground, standing at the three points of it was: A stoic-looking man with long, black hair, a woman with a large scroll on her back, and a middle-aged man in green tights. They all formed hand signs before pressing their palms to different parts of the diagram, the merchant in the middle becoming engulfed in blinding light.

Once the light cleared, the merchant was revealed to actually be Rock Lee, not Rochelle... He wore green tights, matching those of his sensei, and sported a large smile.

"Well, there's our part done..." The stoic Hyuga's cold eyes glanced to his teammates, secretly happy to get their 'assignment' over with.

"You didn't have to feel up Sakura, you know." Tenten shot Lee a deadly glare, her hand grasping the nearest weapon on her person.

"Beautiful acting, and even more beautiful was your quick thinking!" Gai grinned brightly, sending his student a thumbs up, "Good job, Lee!"

Lee's smile grew larger than anyone else had ever witnessed, his hands curling up excitedly by his face, his voice taking a high-pitched, fan-girlish turn, "Gai-sensei!

…

**~ [A/N] ~**

…

**Alrighty! Seems like a good enough place to break it off to me... I'll get the next chapter up asap! . Also, remember to review. It will definitely work for motivation. =P \/ Clicky button!**


	2. InoShikaCho

…

**~ [Disclaimer!] ~**

…

**I do not own any Naruto reference that completely litters this story... Sad really, I was under the impression this story was all mine up til I just had this thought... :(**

…

**~ [A/N] ~**

…

**Well, it's been a lot longer than I wanted since I posted the first chapter; I won't bore you with the personal reasons like me moving halfway across the U.S., though... Hope you can still enjoy!**

...

**The Ultimate Mission – Chapter 2 – Ino-Shika-Cho**

…

The next morning, our favorite couple was back to traveling, creepy memories of the perverted, thieving merchant still plaguing their minds...

...

Nearby, Shikamaru and his two teammates huddled together in the vast forest.

"Okay," Shikamaru's incredibly bored, gruff tone demanded the full attention of his two teammates, "Here's the game plan..."

…

"So, Sakura-chan..." Naruto glanced over at her thoughtfully, wondering if he had it in him to voice the question in his mind.

Sakura let out a sigh, turning her gaze to Naruto, yet never losing her pace. She was originally going to blurt it out as if annoyed, but figured now was as good a time as any to try and change the way she treated him, giving him a weak smile instead, "What is it?"

"Umm..." Naruto fumbled with his fingers, adverting his gaze repeatedly before gaining the courage to look at her, "Where exactly... did that old guy touch you?"

...

A yelp was heard and Sakura was walking just as tensed as a soldier's march, her hands balled up in fists, "Idiot!" Sakura huffed, "Don't remind me..."

"What?" Naruto rubbed his head where he was just hit, glowing a bit red in his face, "I mean, like... he had to of touched your breasts... But, did he just like flutter over the sides, or did he grasp them for all they're worth?"

Sakura stopped marching at this, turning full attention to her blonde companion, who also stopped, partially fear-struck from the glare he was receiving. "Are you trying to say I have small breasts? I'll have you know that a lot of girls would kill to have my breasts... They're not much for size, but they're well-formed, and _perky_." Her voice was something of a low growl, instilling rediculous amounts of fear to any and all unlucky enough to hear it. However, Naruto seemed to be the only one in the immediate vicinity of her.

"N-No, Th-That's not what I was saying at all!" Naruto's voice trembled in fear as he held his hands up in defense, stumbling a few steps back from the growing threat in front of him. "I love your breasts! I'd like to play with them right now!"

Sakura swung a chakra enhanced punch at him, connecting with his abdomen and sending him flying back. Upon connecting with a tree, the earth-shattering echo of it snapping could be heard from miles away. She proceeded to point at him with the very hand she just punched him with, "I'm not just some cheap whore you can go around '_playing with_'!"

So much for being a little easier on him... Oh, well, it would be easier on _her_ if _he_ learned to think before speaking.

…

A few minutes later, they were back to traveling casually as if nothing had happened... Well, sort of...

Naruto rolled his shoulders, rubbing his stiff neck, "Why'd you have to go and do that? That one actually hurt a little, you know."

Sakura huffed, "Good!"

"So, does that mean he cupped your entire, massively appealing breasts, or just brushed the sides?" Naruto was careful with what he said, using the best of his small brain's abilities to say words that made her tits seem like massive, divine entities. He did _not_want to invoke her wrath again.

"Why do you care?" Sakura looked to him with slightly pink cheeks, "It's not really a matter I want to discuss with you, if you haven't taken the hint..."

He immediately wanted to tell her the truth, as sad as it was: that he wanted to be the first one to fondle her tits. However, he _really_ couldn't see that going over well, so tried to think of something else. Especially since he was almost positive she wouldn't allow that to happen in this lifetime. There wasn't many other reasons as to why he'd be questioning about her breasts, though, come to think.

"I don't know... Just worried about you, I guess..." Naruto sighed, adverting his eyes to his feet, once again.

Worried about her? He was worried about her, and knowing what part of her chest that creepy merchant touched is going to ease his worries in some twisted way? Well, she did kind of see his point. It would have seemed a bit worse had he fondled everything she had, versus barely grazing over the sides.

She was rather uncomfortable talking about this matter with Naruto, but figured it the only way to shut him up. Still blushing slightly, she looked away from him, "Just brushed the sides."

"Oh?" Naruto looked up to her, rather surprised she even answered. He smiled, "That's good."

…

After a few moments of comforting silence, accompanied only by the periodic sounds of their sandals meeting the earth, they both seemed to take notice of a strange figure walking behind them. It seemed as if their company had appeared out of nowhere. The two exchanged concerned looks, and Sakura nodded before discretely looking back at him over her shoulder, pretending to have spotted something in the woods. It was a rather large person dressed in a trench coat, the hood much too large, enshrouding his head. The combination of excess material draped about and the shadow it cast made seeing his face rather impossible.

She returned to looking ahead before glancing to Naruto, who had shifted his eyes to see her. He could tell right away from the worry in her face that they should be weary of this person. If it looked like just another random civilian, he was sure Sakura would've thought nothing of it unless given a reason.

Naruto didn't want the person that _may_ be following them to know that they were informed on the fact, so he decided it best to act normal. "So, Sakura-chan... How much further _now_?"

Sakura huffed at his idea of a conversation, but still, she knew they needed to act as if nothing was up. "We will probably cross the border into Tea Country tomorrow."

"Whaaaat!" Naruto's eyes widened and his lower lip seemed to be curling out, as if pouting. "We haven't even hit Tea Country yet?"

"Don't tell me you thought we had..." Sakura muttered under her breath before letting out a short laugh, "Genin."

"Hey, now." Naruto playfully glared at her, "That's hitting below the belt..."

...

Shikamaru silently watched them pass from the edge of the forest, safely hidden in some shadows. Ino's lifeless body was hanging over his shoulder as he formed a hand sign, making a shadow stretch out from the forest and spiral up one of the Pinkette's ankles.

...

"I would never touch your-" Sakura's foot was unexpectedly caught on something, so she let out a surprised shriek in the middle of her sentence, falling forward.

However, Naruto instantly switched to 'Hero Mode', spinning around and getting in front of her so she would fall into his arms.

...

"Partial Expansion Jutsu." The man behind them whispered silently to himself, his arms growing incredibly large and closing the distance between him and the couple. He gripped Naruto's ankles and pulled them out just as the pinkette was falling into him, causing Naruto to slam into the ground on his back, his teammate on top of him.

...

Both grunted from the impact. Though Naruto was sure he had taken most of the fall, he wasn't positive, "You okay?" He spoke in something of a strained whisper, as the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Yeah," Sakura pushed herself up with her arms to look into his face, "I don't know what happened, it was like my foot got caught on something."

"Must've been a hole or something." Naruto smiled, happy she was alright.

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off, getting lost in his dazzling smile.

Maybe she could just lean down and kiss him now... That'd be alright, right? I mean, he _did_ just catch her; he deserves a 'thank you', right? Sakura mentally cursed herself, how could she be thinking these thoughts about _Naruto_ of all people!

Naruto wasn't minding their close proximity at all. He couldn't seem to get the smile off his face, in fact. How obvious it must be that he enjoys it! She was blushing slightly with an arm on either side of his head, staring down at him. Her hair fell down beautifully around her face, dangling just above his. He really wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

"Aww, you two are such a cute couple!"

Both looked over to see a teenage girl, about their age, looking down at them. She had long black hair and cute, little features.

"Umm... We're not really-" Sakura started, but was cut off.

"When's _the date_?" The girl spoke up, crouching down next to them. She then smiled down at Naruto, "I wish I could find a guy who cares enough to catch me when I'm falling."

Naruto began blushing a bright shade of red, "It's nothing, really."

Sakura smiled at her, making herself more comfortable by sitting up over Naruto's abdomen, "I'm sure you could find someb-" Just then her eyes widened, "Wait, when's_the date_for what?"

"Aww, you know." The girl bounced excitedly, "When are you getting married?"

Both Naruto and Sakura were glowing red at that, Naruto cracking up at the thought, though.

"M-M-Married!" Sakura quickly got up from Naruto and took a step back, suddenly aware of how close they really were. "We're not even a couple!"

"Not yet." Naruto added, winking to the girl as he got up.

The girl was still crouched down, looking up at the two, her features seemed somewhat disappointed, "Aww, but you seem so close... You two would've made such a cute couple..."

"Sorry." Naruto shrugged, not sure what else to say. "Just teammates."

"Oh okay..." The girl stood up with them. "So, there's still a chance, huh?"

Naruto chuckled lightly, "_Sakura_with _me_? Probably not. But, every guy has a right to dream, right?"

Damn it, what's going on here? Sakura was confused. She didn't know what to say or do. Why was this stranger being so friendly with Naruto? Why does she seem to want them to be together? And damn it, why does it feel like she's trying to steal him from her at the same time!

"Well, if there's no chance of you two dating, then..." The girl adverted her eyes to the ground nervously, half hoping to see the words she wanted written in the dirt. However, after finding there was nothing, she reestablished her gaze with Naruto, smiling cutely "Would you mind maybe, I don't know, going on a date with me sometime?"

Naruto was smiling stupidly and blushing brightly at that. It was truly flattering for him to be asked out by such a cute girl.

Why is he smiling like that? Sakura wasn't sure if he was going to accept her offer and exchange phone numbers or something- he seemed so happy. Of course, not many civilians take the risk of getting involved with ninja. She must be desperate. But still, she was sure Naruto could do much better than this cute, little, friendly thing. That can't be right- she must be only acting friendly! She needed to go find a stick and fend this _evil_ _monster_ away from Naruto! Yes! It is the only choice, as his teammate.

She was just about to walk off and find a stick when he responded.

"That sounds good." Naruto gave the girl his trademark smile, "But, sorry, I can't. I'm a ninja and you're a civilian; I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I put you in danger."

The girl's smile pulled into a frown, but only momentarily before she got it under control, "I-I understand; sorry for bringing it up."

"It's no problem." Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, still smiling brightly.

Hearing his words, Sakura somehow felt relieved inside... really relieved. She wasn't sure why, though. Had she been worried he would get hurt if he got into a relationship? Ah, that's probably it! She _really_ needed to stop thinking so much, it's putting... strange ideas in her head...

"Well," Sakura spoke up, making the would-be couple look at her, "We're actually on a mission now and we should really be getting back to it."

"Ah, okay." The girl blushed slightly, bowing her head to the pinkette. "Well, I guess he's all yours then, huh?"

"Yeap!" Naruto chimed in, grinning largely at her.

Sakura glared at him with an annoyed vein popping from her forehead, her voice a gruff whisper, "I don't want him."

"Well, maybe we'll meet again." The girl smiled cutely and waved to the adventuring duo, "Til then, huh?" She shot Naruto a returned wink.

Sakura huffed, grabbing Naruto's arm and leading him the opposite direction, continuing their trek.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined while being pulled along, "I didn't even get to say goodbye!"

"She ran away." Sakura growled.

Naruto only smiled to himself, whispering words only he could hear, "You pulled me away."

...

Shortly after, the dark haired girl which had been left behind collapsed on the dirt path, standing up a moment later and grasping her head, "What happened?" She stumbled around a little before looking to the distant couple. "Who was that guy?"

…

In the forest nearby, Ino's body came back to life. The blonde picked herself up from a crouching Shikamaru's shoulder, her hands on his biceps to steady herself. "Mission complete!" She giggled a little.

"Exactly." Shikamaru's bored tone rose again, "We have tested their relationship and tried to force them a little closer together. Just what the mission entailed... Damn it, though... It was such a drag. Tsunade shouldn't be sending ninja on pointless missions like this."

"Hey," The nearby Choji stood, completely back to his usual clothes, "At least it was a little fun. I mean, we got the chance to trip Naruto." Choji laughed, "As thick-headed as he is, I'll bet he thought he was standing on some loose dirt, or something!"

Shikamaru simply let out a long, drawn-out sigh, signifying that even the _conversation_ was boring him.

"But, I have a question... Why didn't you just possess one of their shadow's, then mind transfer into the other?"

"What then? Force them to make love in the middle of the street?" Ino's eyes widened before a devious grin spread across her face, her features easing.

"No way." Shikamaru made it known that he hadn't dozed off yet, "They would've known if we took over their bodies, and because they're both family jutsu, they'd know exactly who was behind it. Let's get home already; it's time for my nap."

"Alright." Ino shrugged, dropping her devious smile, and with it, whatever strange idea she was plotting. Well, saving it for later, if not dropping it...

"You two go ahead." Choji smirked, "There's something I wanna do before leaving."

"Just don't blow our cover," Shikamaru began slowly walking away, Ino following suit.

A little ways away, Ino laughed quietly while looking to the shadow user, "I think we finally found something he likes more than food."

"Seems that way."

…

Sakura lightly slapped the back of the blonde's head, "Stop talking."

"But, Sakura-chan, it's _sooooboring_ to just walk in silence!"

"Then talk about something other than how much you want Ramen." Sakura huffed, having heard about the strengths and weaknesses of almost every flavor of Ramen. Truth be told, it was kind of making her hungry...

"Mmm..." Naruto thought about another topic, having had his favorite one banned, "I just learned this really cool Jutsu the other da-" Naruto broke into suddenly yelling, falling forward unexpectedly.

Sakura watched as he caught himself in the push-up pose, her eyes looked to his feet and saw nothing before looking back and seeing an average-looking civilian walking behind them.

Sakura simply shrugged and blamed it on the fact that he was an idiot... However, the fact remains: no matter how knuckle headed he was, he didn't go around tripping over his own feet...

Naruto leaped to his feet before checking out his surroundings in the same manner Sakura had previously. The man behind him worried him, because he could've sworn somebody kicked his foot just as he was lifting it from the ground, in the middle of a step. It was a rather popular prank around the academy, so he knew the feel of it. What he couldn't understand, however, was that this civilian was much too far away to even think about kicking him.

"That guy does it again, I'm going back there and punching him..." Naruto growled under his breath while starting to walk once more.

"Umm..." Sakura raised an eyebrow at the enraged Naruto. "If he does what? He's obviously too far back to have done anything to you..."

"No." Naruto grinned almost sadistically at her, "That's just what _they_ _want_ you to think!"

That's it. Her friend and teammate has completely lost his mind.

She was debating on whether hitting him would knock some sense into him or not, when he tripped again, catching himself in the same manner a second time. This time, however, he instantly leapt back to his feet and whirled around to face the man a little ways behind them.

Naruto's features were all depicting his annoyance as he raised a hand to point his accusing finger at him, "Knock it off, man!"

"Umm, Naruto... I really don't think he-" Sakura began, but was cut off.

"Knock _what_ off?" The average-looking man shouted back, "You're the one that needs to stop tripping over your own feet! I've seen you fall like three times in the last ten minutes!"

"I'm only tripping over my own feet cause of you kicking my foot, fatty!" Naruto smirked, happy at his insult.

Choji-in-disguise's features soon displayed just how mad he become through hearing one word, his voice was loud and maniacal, displaying quite a bit of fury and uncaged rage, "I'M NOT FAT!"

"Oh, shit." Naruto muttered under his breath as the... big boned... man stampeded towards him. He looked over to Sakura, who currently had her jaw dropped in disbelief, "Run!"

Naruto took Sakura's wrist and began sprinting, pulling the pinkette behind him.

"Why'd you have to go and call him fat!" Sakura cried out while being pulled behind the fleeing Naruto.

" He _is_ fat!" Naruto was quick to respond, "A blind man could see how fat he is!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The stampede continued, hot on their tails.

~ About a minute later ~

Choji-in-disguise huffed heavily while drastically losing speed, the couple he was pursuing were now long in the distance. His heart pounded, his chest hurt, his body felt numb, his muscles ached from over exertion, his vision quickly became foggy, his mind lacked oxygen and was spinning in circles. He whirled around and hit the ground with a thud, landing on his back and staring up at the sky.

He lay there for a while to try and regain his breath, "Damn they run fast..." He was still puffing roughly, "They're lucky my muscles are massive and require excess energy to function... I need to cut back on my exercises or something..." He lay there for a bit more when his stomach let out a loud growl. His eyes began pouting up at the sky, "I'm hungry!"

…

Back in the Leaf, Tsunade awaited contently at her desk... Well, part of why she was "content" was due to the bottle of sake she was seemingly making an effort to down in one go.

A knock sounded on her door, causing her to put the nearly empty bottle down next to her chair, out of sight, before wiping her mouth, "Come in!"

In walked a rather bland looking young man with dark hair and the palest complexion.. anyone... had ever seen. "You sent for me, Lady Hokage?" His fake smile tugged his lips into a light curl. Though it was difficult to tell what he was really feeling, it certainly wasn't happiness.

…

**~ [A/N] ~**

…

**Please review! =D It means worlds to me to hear what my readers think of my work. Over the top / not enough / or simply hysterical- What are YOU thinking?**


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